Lego Architecture

Lego Architecture

Sub‑themes	Landmark Series Architect Series
Subject	Buildings
Availability	2008–Present
Total sets	32 + 9 special editions
Official website

Lego Architecture is a sub-brand and product range of the Lego construction toy, which aims to “celebrate the past, present and future of architecture through the Lego Brick”.^[1] The brand includes a series of Lego sets designed by ‘Architectural Artist’ Adam Reed Tucker, and each contain the pieces and instructions to build a model of a famous architectural building in micro-scale.

Development

Adam Reed Tucker earned a degree in architecture at Kansas State University in 1996.^[2] Whilst there, he sought a method to join his two passions of art and architecture, and hit upon the idea of using Lego bricks. From this, he founded Brickstructures, Inc., and began to design and build models of famous landmarks. His work was noticed by the Lego Group, and together they formed a partnership to release some of his models as commercially available Lego sets under the Lego Architecture brand.

Sets

Sets in the product line contain a premium booklet, that – besides the build instructions – also include various information and pictures of the building itself.

By the beginning of 2010, six sets had been released in the range, under two 'series'. Within the 'Landmark Series' are models of the Sears Tower (21000), John Hancock Center (21001), the Empire State Building (21002), and the Seattle Space Needle (21003). Within the 'Architect Series' are models of the Guggenheim Museum (21004) and Fallingwater (21005).

In the beginning of July 2010, a seventh set, the White House (21006), was released. An eighth set (21007) was released in November 2010: New York's Rockefeller Center. The ninth set (21009), Farnsworth House (Plano, Illinois), was released in April 2011. A tenth set (21008), The Burj Khalifa, was released in June 2011. The Willis Tower (21000) was also released in 2011, this kit was a re-issue of the original Sears Tower kit; the only change was the printed tile to reflect the building's renaming.

An eleventh and twelfth set, the Robie House (21010) and the Brandenburg Gate (21011) were released in September 2011.^[3][4]

In January 2012, it was announced that the next Architecture set would be 21012 Sydney Opera House. The set was released in March 2012.

In June 2012, Big Ben (21013) was released. In July 2012, the Namdaemun Gate (renamed Sungnyemun Gate) (21016) was released. In September 2012, the Villa Savoye (21014) was released. The Eames House (21015) was scheduled and then canceled, as it never came out as a set.

In June 2013, the Leaning Tower of Pisa (21015) was announced for the Lego Architecture series. Its set number (21015) replaced the original Eames House after it was canceled. United Nations Headquarters (21018) came out next. In October 2013, Marina Bay Sands and the Eiffel Tower were both announced.

Set	Series	Name	Location	Released	Number of pieces	Retired product	Comments
21000	Landmark	Sears Tower[5]	Chicago	2008	69	Yes
		Willis Tower		2011
21001	Landmark	John Hancock Center	Chicago	2008	69	Yes
21002	Landmark	Empire State Building	New York City	2009	77	Yes
21003	Landmark	Seattle Space Needle	Seattle	2009	57	Yes
21004	Architect	Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum[6]	New York City	2009	208	Yes
21005	Architect	Fallingwater[6]	Pittsburgh	2009	811	Yes
21006	Landmark	The White House	Washington, D.C.	2010	560	No
21007	Architect	Rockefeller Center	New York City	2011	240	Yes
21008	Landmark	Burj Khalifa[7]	Dubai	2011	208	Yes
21009	Architect	Farnsworth House[8]	Plano, Illinois	2011	546	Yes
21010	Architect	Robie House[9]	Chicago	2011	2276	Yes
21011	Landmark	Brandenburg Gate	Berlin	2011	363	Yes
21012	Architect	Sydney Opera House[10]	Sydney	2012	270	Yes
21013	Landmark	Big Ben[11]	London	2012	346	No
21014	Architect	Villa Savoye[12]	Paris	2012	660	Yes
21015	Landmark	Leaning Tower of Pisa	Pisa	2013	345	Yes
21016	Landmark	Sungnyemun Gate[13]	Seoul	2012	325	Yes
21017	Architect	Imperial Hotel[14][15]	Tokyo	2013	1,188	Yes
21018	Landmark	United Nations Headquarters[16]	New York City	2013	597	Yes
21019	Landmark	The Eiffel Tower[17]	Paris	2014	321	No
21020	Landmark	The Trevi Fountain[18]	Rome	2014	731	No
21021	Landmark	Marina Bay Sands	Singapore	2014	602	Yes
21022	Landmark	Lincoln Memorial[19]	Washington, D.C.	2015	274	No
21023	Landmark	Flatiron Building	New York City	2015	471	No
21024	Architect	Louvre	Paris	2015	695	No
21026	Skyline	Venice	Venice	2016	212	No
21027	Skyline	Berlin	Berlin	2016	289	No
21028	Skyline	New York City	New York	2016	598	No
21029		Buckingham Palace	London	2016		No
21030		US Capitol	Washington, D.C.	2016		No
21031	Landmark	Burj Khalifa	Dubai	2016	333	No
21050		Lego Architecture Studio[20]	N/A	2013	1,210	No

Special editions

Set	Name	Location	Released	Number of pieces	Retired product	Comments	Pictures
4000002	LOM Moulding	Monterrey	2011	174	Given to employees
4000005	KOM Moulding	Billund	2012	315	Given to employees	Kornmarken Factory is the first and largest LEGO moulding and production factory
4000006	Kladno Campus	Kladno	2012	250	Given to employees
4000009	HMV Production	Billund	2013	285	Given to employees	HMV is the name of the packing factory at LEGO Billund, which this set is based on.
4000010	LEGO House[21]	Billund	2014	250	Only sold in Billund	Lego House is the Brand new Lego House opening in Billund approx. 2017,
4000011	Nyiregyhaza Factory	Nyiregyháza	2014	327	Given to employees	Factory of Lego
4000015	LOM Moulding B	Monterrey	2014	215		Additional packing building. A building, which expands the footprint of the existing facility
4000016	Billund Airport	Billund	2014	281	Only sold at Billund Airport	Billund Airport was made for the 50th anniversary of the Airport.
4000018	Kladno Campus	Kladno	2015	412	Given to employees	Kladno campus is the name of building C at the Czech Lego factory, which this set is based on

Impact

The product range has been reviewed favourably by many commentators. Journalist Jenny Williams said "The scale on these kits is pretty small, though, so don’t expect exquisite detail. But creating with Lego bricks is quite a fun way to pay homage to great architects".^[22]

References

1. "About Lego Architecture". Lego Group. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
2. "Brickstructures". Retrieved 29 December 2009.
3. Official Announcement: 21010 Robie House, 13 July 2011
4. Sarah Firsheinn (8 August 2011), Lego to Eternalize the Brandenburg Gate in Architecture Series, Curbed Network
5. "Sears Tower now named Willis Tower". CNN. July 16, 2009
6. "Release of two Frank Lloyd Wright Collection sets from LEGO Architecture". Lego.com. May 9, 2009
7. "The world’s tallest building in LEGO® bricks". Lego.com. May 25, 2011
8. "Modernist architectural icon immortalised in LEGO® bricks". Lego.com. April 4, 2011
9. "Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House Joins LEGO® Architecture series". Lego.com. September 19, 2011
10. "Sydney’s revered opera house immortalized in LEGO® bricks". Lego.com. February 21, 2012
11. "LEGO® Big Ben celebrates Victorian London’s greatest landmark". Lego.com. April 18, 2012
12. "Le Corbusier’s French masterpiece becomes a LEGO® Architecture model". Lego.com. August 31, 2012
13. "A Korean landmark recreated as LEGO® Architecture". Lego.com. May 14, 2012
14. Imperial Hotel in Tokyo impresses with blend of old and new The Australian 7 November 2014
15. "Revisit the Imperial Hotel with LEGO Architecture". Lego.com. March 1, 2013
16. ". BrickExtra. May 15, 2013
17. Lego Architecture: Der Eiffelturm – das ist Spitze Ukonio.de 14 Oktober 2014
18. BREAKING: Trevi-fontein wordt volgende Lego Architecture set Madpac.nl 13 January 2014
19. Série LEGO® Architecture incluirá o Lincoln Memorial e o Edifício Flatiron Archdaily.com
20. ". Brickset. June 29, 2013
21. Exclusive: 4000010 LEGO House Brickset.com 17 March 2014
22. Jenny Williams (23 May 2009). "Frank Lloyd Wright + Lego = Awesome". Geekdad (Wired).